Planning and Estimating

57

CHAPTER 7

PLANNING AND ESTIMATING

he planning and estimating responsibilities of the maintenance department comprise a major part of the functional controls of controlled maintenance management. The controls include screening requests, planning and estimating the work, reviewing the estimate and work plan, scheduling and activating the work order and keeping informed on the progress and cost of the work. Planning and estimating of work comprises all of the following: I. Screening The screening action performed by planning and estimating can save a considerable amount of time, effort and money. Requests for estimates and/or work should be analyzed carefully and if they fail to meet any of the following criteria they should be either revised to conform or they can be deferred and returned to the originator for more detailed information or justification.

Copyright 2002 by The Fairmont Press.

A. Scope The scope of the work must be understandable and should be compatible with the type of work that the maintenance department is authorized to perform. B. Necessity Requests for work may violate established maintenance standards or policies of the plant. These requests may be in conflict with current instructions or the work may be a duplicate of, or in conflict with, other planned maintenance work. Availability of Funds When funds to accomplish the work are not immediately available, processing should be deferred pending receipt of funds. If availability of funds is indeterminate, processing should be curtailed and the request canceled.

C.

II. Engineering support For work that will require engineering drawings, prints, sketches and/or research, no planning and estimating should be performed until the engineering support has been obtained. III. Planning The prepared work plan should specify the work that is to be accomplished, what is needed to do the work and which shop(s) will do the work. This means that complete specifications will be provided, the several operations that make up the job and, in some instances, the elements that make up the operations will be described. The clarity, correctness and completeness of the work plan is very

Copyright 2002 by The Fairmont Press.

important when there is to be accurate estimating, effective material coordination and realistic scheduling and work accomplishment. Adequacy of Specifications A. Adequate specifications are an essential part of every work order. The test of adequacy is the degree of reliance that can be placed on the specifications to define a complete bill of materials, obtain the necessary tools, special equipment or personnel, schedule the work and activate manpower with a minimum of visits to the job site by Supervision. B. Material The selection of materials is based on current policy, maintenance standards, fund limitations and/or other data. Completeness The planner must be meticulous in his responsibility for stating clearly and accurately the detailed scope of the work to be accomplished including sketches or drawings, as appropriate. This is necessary to ensure that the work will be performed in accordance with the requestors needs and other governing criteria.

C.

D. Method of Accomplishment Jobs often require several operations and each operation may have several elements. By listing the elements and operations in their proper sequence, the following benefits are derived: 1. Important elements of the job are less likely to be omitted.

Copyright 2002 by The Fairmont Press.

2. 3.

Related time values can be used in estimating. Interrelated interests of various crafts for each work order are shown.

E.

Assignment of work The planner will indicate the appropriate craft for each operation and element of work listed on the work order and, also, the lead craft responsible for overall job supervision and coordination with others.

IV. Estimating One of the most important functions of the maintenance department is estimating. An estimate is the informed analysis of all known and probable elements of a proposed job and the resulting detailed forecast of manpower materials, costs and related requirements that will be needed to accomplish the work. A. Purpose The principle purposes of estimating are: 1. To provide a basis for approval, disapproval or deferment of proposed work. To provide a basis for budget forecasting. To provide data for shop planning and scheduling.

2. 3.

B.

Types of Estimates There are three basic types of estimates and each serves a particular need.

Copyright 2002 by The Fairmont Press.

1.

Preliminary Estimate It is probable that in some instances work for which estimates have been requested will not be authorized; therefore, on questionable projects, and to eliminate unnecessary work, only preliminary estimates should be made in the early stages of these projects. Preliminary estimates are relatively simple computations made on an overall basis using up-to-date unit cost information as a guide. Rough Estimate This is an approximation of man-hour requirements only. It is used primarily for standing work orders. Final Estimate This is the type of estimate in which all work operations and elements listed are analyzed and considered in detail. It should be the most accurate forecast that can be made, within a reasonable time, of the costs and man-hour/material requirements for a given work order. Final estimates should be prepared for all specific work orders.

2.

3.

C.

Estimating Criteria The following factors should be considered in preparing estimates. 1. Travel time is the time required for the round trips between the shop and the work site for each man each day he works on the job. Also, the time spent procuring material for the job.

Copyright 2002 by The Fairmont Press.

2.

Work preparation is the time required for preparation of the work site, receiving instructions from superiors and the layout of materials and equipment. Work performance is the time required for the actual performance of the craft work that is required to complete the work order. This requires an analysis of each phase of the work listed in the work plan. Material requirements. It is the responsibility of the planner/estimator to specify the types of materials that are to be used and to estimate the realistic cost of the materials. A draft maintenance bill of materials should be prepared and screened. Equipment costs must be included when it is expected that specialized equipment will be required to accomplish the work. Charges should also be included for maintenance department equipment used to accomplish the work on the work order. Cleanup. This factor includes the normal cleanup during the performance of the work and upon completion of the work order. Contingency. A contingency may be included as an additional factor in an estimate when a strict financial limitation has been placed on the job or when the funds are other than maintenance and operations expenditures. Generally a contingency factor should not exceed 10%.

3.

4.

5.

6.

7.

Copyright 2002 by The Fairmont Press.

8.

Overhead. This factor should be applied in accordance with current policy and procedures.

VI. Review of work estimate and plan The impact of the work order on the shops is of such importance that the maintenance supervisor should carefully examine the completed estimate before approval. The review will include the following factors. A. Completeness The estimate is composed of many items such as specifications, work plan, materials and equipment. The review should assure that none of the items have been omitted. B. Accuracy Technical descriptions, material computations, words and figures used throughout the estimate should be checked for accuracy. Clarity The content of the estimate should be clear to all personnel who may be concerned with its further processing. Ambiguous, lengthy or involved statements should be rephrased and expressed clearly. Keep it simple.

C.

D. Conformance with Policy The content of the final estimate should be reviewed for conformance with established policy. VI. Activating the Work Order A. Approvals All necessary approvals for the work must be obtained prior to preparation of the work order. This

Copyright 2002 by The Fairmont Press.

should be accomplished in accordance with the established approval limitations. B. Issuance of the Work Order After the necessary approvals have been secured, a work order is prepared from the estimate, processed and issued to the shop(s) for accomplishment.

VII. Records Work request and work order record files should be maintained in the work reception center. This will provide a centralized and readily accessible location for estimate, work request and work order records. Disposition should be in accordance with established procedures.

PLANNER/ESTIMATOR
One planner/estimator can provide the work planning and estimating for 30-40 craft people. The planner/ estimator should be experienced in the work that is planned and estimated. A large maintenance department will require one or more planner/estimators for each of the electrical, mechanical, structural and instrumentation shops. In a small maintenance department, the plant engineer and/or maintenance supervisor can perform the planner/estimator duties.

SCHEDULER
The scheduler is also the work reception center clerk. The scheduler schedules the authorized work orders to the

Copyright 2002 by The Fairmont Press.

individual shops in accordance with the work order priority and the individual shops workload assuring that the shop is not overloaded with work. The work orders are delivered to the individual shops prior to the start of the new work week.

SHOP SCHEDULING
The shop supervisor should maintain a log showing the work order numbers, priority, scheduled start and completion dates. The shop supervisor will schedule the daily work for the shop and determine the actual start date of each work order with experienced assurance that the work will be completed in accordance with the scheduled completion date. The supervisor will submit all completed work orders and a report of all uncompleted work orders with explanations of why they were not completed per schedule and a new completion date to the scheduler at the end of each week.

Copyright 2002 by The Fairmont Press.